Caught: 2013 Jaguar XKR-S Cabrio

Jaguar XKR-S loses its top.

It takes one very cool car to make black masking tape look racy. Call us crazy, but the XKR-S Cabrio caught testing by our spy photographers looks to be pulling off the feat admirably. The disguise on this Italian racing red test vehicle is limited to black tape covering the badges and, strangely, the turning vanes on either side of the front fascia. Come on, Jaguar, do you think we're going to mistake this for anything other than your 550-bhp sports car?

More of the Same, Minus a Roof

We've driven the XKR-S coupe in Portugal and raved about the car's blend of civility with track-friendly driving dynamics. Under the hood is a supercharged and direct-injected 5.0-liter V-8, which delivers 550 bhp and 503 lb.-ft. of torque. Coupled with a 6-speed automatic transmission that's fitted with paddle shifters, the XKR-S Coupe's engine enables a sprint from 0–60 mph in 4.2 seconds and a top speed of 186 mph. The Cabrio version should have no problem matching these performance figures.

A suspension lowered by 10 mm, electro-mechanical locking differential and a track-specific stability control setting showed off the moves of the XKR-S Coupe. We found that the performance modifications "make the XKR-S behave more like a true sports car than a sporty luxury coupe." It also doesn't hurt matters that this is one seriously menacing-looking Jag. The XKR-S Cabrio looks set to carry the same carbon-fiber front splitter, rear wing and diffuser, along with a blacked-out grille and those (temporarily taped over) turning vanes. Like the XKR-S Coupe, the Cabrio is likely to have five color choices: Italian racing red, French racing blue, white, and gunmetal gray.

Look for the XKR-S Cabrio to appear next year, during the Geneva Auto Show. Sales should begin shortly thereafter. And with the XKR-S Coupe already ringing in at $132,000 here in the U.S., don't expect much change from $150,000 for the drop-top variant.

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